Warriors’ Klay Thompson steps up game with Curry, Iguodala ailing

Knowing that a sore left ankle would sideline Stephen Curry on Tuesday night against Atlanta, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr reminded the team early in the day that 25 to 30 extra shots would be available.

“It was great,” Kerr joked. “I said it at the morning shootaround, and L.B. (Leandro Barbosa) stared at Klay (Thompson), like: ‘It doesn’t mean you’re going to get all of them, right?’”

Thompson didn’t take all of the extra shots, but he did manage to chuck up a game-high 27 attempts and hit some of the game’s biggest shots in his understudy performance as the team’s No. 1 scoring option.

The All-Star shooting guard scored a game-high 26 points on 8-for-27 shooting from the floor and 6-for-16 shooting from beyond the three-point arc, taking about a quarter of the team’s field-goal attempts and nearly half of its three-point tries in a 109-105 overtime victory.

Even on an inefficient shooting night, Thompson wanted the ball in the clutch moments. He made two free-throw tries with 47.6 seconds left in regulation that tied it, made a three-pointer at the 2:54 mark of overtime for a lead the Warriors would not relinquish and iced the game with a step-back 7-footer in the game’s final 12 seconds.

“I thought that was huge,” Kerr said of Thompson’s crunch-time plays. “I love that more than anything when (my) guy is having a tough night, but isn’t shy about taking huge shots.”

Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry cheers a basket in 1st quarter against Atlanta Hawks during NBA game at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, March 1, 2016.

Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry cheers a basket in 1st quarter against Atlanta Hawks during NBA game at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, March 1, 2016.

Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle

Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle

Image
1of/3

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 3

Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry cheers a basket in 1st quarter against Atlanta Hawks during NBA game at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, March 1, 2016.

Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry cheers a basket in 1st quarter against Atlanta Hawks during NBA game at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, March 1, 2016.

Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle

Warriors’ Klay Thompson steps up game with Curry, Iguodala ailing

1 / 3

Back to Gallery

Thompson’s role of being the Warriors’ go-to scorer might be short-lived as Curry completed his usual post-practice shooting routine Wednesday and appeared to have every intention of playing in Thursday’s marquee game against Oklahoma City.

Though Curry and Andre Iguodala (left hamstring tightness) are listed as questionable for Thursday’s game, the sixth man’s availability is a little murkier. Iguodala was not seen on the court Wednesday, and Kerr said the team will be especially careful with the 32-year-old, who missed 12 games with a left hamstring strain in 2013-14.

“We’ll just keep them as questionable for” Thursday, Kerr said after Wednesday’s light practice. “Steph is obviously getting a good workout in, so he’s further along than Andre. But we’ll see how they feel” Thursday.

The NBA did the Warriors a favor by scheduling the Thunder for a road game against the Clippers on Wednesday night, but Oklahoma City still will arrive at Oracle Arena on Thursday with two of the league’s top 10 players, with payback in mind and with a chance to play spoiler to the Warriors’ chase of history.

Curry and Iguodala were injured in the Warriors’ thrilling overtime victory against Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Thunder on Saturday. It was just the Warriors’ third win in Oklahoma City since the franchise moved there from Seattle.

But the Warriors have racked up plenty of wins at home. They’ve won 43 consecutive regular-season games at Oracle Arena, one shy of the NBA’s all-time mark.

The Chicago Bulls won 44 in a row at home from March 30, 1995, to April 4, 1996.

After the Warriors’ 43rd straight home win, Kerr walked into the locker room and asked the players if they knew the length of the streak. He was met with blank stares.

“Our guys have no clue how many they’ve won in a row,” Kerr said, “but it’s a source of pride to control our home floor, and we’ve done an incredible job of that since last year.”

In Kerr’s first two seasons as head coach, the Warriors are 64-2 at home during the regular season and 73-4 at Oracle Arena when including the playoffs.

“We might as well try to go for the record for home wins,” Thompson said after Tuesday’s game, illustrating the why-not philosophy that he generally brings to every situation.

After driving past Paul Millsap and, with 4.3 seconds remaining in regulation, missing a 12-foot fadeaway that could have won the game, Thompson made nearly an identical play to clinch it in overtime.

He lost Millsap on a drive from the left wing and stepped back for the 7-foot jumper.

“I just knew that one was going to go in, because I got the same shot at the end of regulation and it went in and out,” Thompson said. “Don’t hang your head. Just stick with it.

“If you have confidence in yourself, you’ll eventually make plays.”

If you get 27 shots, you’ll get plenty of opportunities to make plays.

The Warriors closed the 2014-15 regular season with 18 straight home wins and are 25-0 at Oracle Arena this season — a 43-game winning streak that ranks second in NBA history. The Chicago Bulls won 44 straight regular-season home games from March 30, 1995, to April 4, 1996.

Point guard Stephen Curry (left ankle) and sixth man Andre Iguodala (left hamstring) are listed as questionable, but Curry appears to be a lock to play. The Warriors also assigned first-round pick Kevon Looney to their NBA Development League affiliate in Santa Cruz in time for Wednesday’s game against Bakersfield.

There could be some tired legs for the national TV game. The Warriors are coming off playing consecutive overtime games for the first time since 2005-06, including Saturday’s 121-118 win at Oklahoma City. The Thunder lost to the Clippers in Los Angeles on Wednesday night.

Heading into Wednesday’s games, the Warriors and Thunder sported the league’s top two scoring tandems. Curry and Klay Thompson are combining for 52.6 points per game, and Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were averaging 52.2 points per game.

Andrew Bogut scored a season-high 19 points in Tuesday’s overtime victory against Atlanta — the center’s highest-scoring output with the Warriors. He was 8-for-9 from the floor and 3-for-4 from the free-throw line.